• Social media use on the rise, leading to increased public engagement in sharing information

• Plethora of downsides due to increased social media use to circulate news

• Defining inappropriate social media use, a subjective matter

By Sumudu Chamara   When it comes to the direction of a country, the media has a certain unmatchable role and power in determining that direction. The media can create, debunk, or shape what the people think, and the basic ethics pertaining to the use of media dictate that the media uses that role and power to do what is “right”. However, who determines what that right use of media is has always been a question that keeps popping up whenever the topic of the media’s role is discussed. Sri Lanka too has discussed this matter on a number of occasions in the past, and the recent developments suggest that the Government is serious about stifling false news. However, this keeps becoming a bigger issue than it was, with the increase in the number of social media platforms which give the people (social media users) the freedom to be a part of larger national discourses while protecting their identity, sometimes anonymously.   CID to counter fake news On 7 June, it was reported that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) set up a special team to tackle false news circulating on social media platforms. According to the Media Spokesman Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Ajith Rohana, this unit has primarily been set up to monitor social media platforms, taking into account the increasing amount of fake news on those platforms, especially those pertaining to public movements as well as dengue and Covid-19 prevention efforts. However, even before this move, the Government and the authorities had planned to take stern action to curb fake and misleading information circulated on social media platforms. This decision has, however, attracted opposition from various parties, including Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) Chairman Prof. Charitha Herath. On his Twitter account, Dr. Herath said: “In my personal opinion, this is risky as it is difficult to judge the ‘fake-ness’ of social media content, and it is politically unhealthy too. Though it is true that some people on social media are not responsible at all, the CID’s special engagement with social media would do more harm than how it is right now. If we are really going to go through this, it is good to base the verification on an internationally recognised fact-checking process. Also, it is better to gain an idea on how India’s new initiative on social media works.” Earlier, on 19 April, the Cabinet of Ministers approved a proposal put forward by Minister of Justice Ali Sabry and Minister of Mass Media Keheliya Rambukwella regarding introducing new laws in order to curb the spread of false and misleading statements via the internet, especially on social media platforms. It was also reported that the Cabinet had decided to instruct the Legal Draftsman to draft a bill to introduce the said laws. Adding that the spread of false information on the internet poses a serious threat, and is seen as being used to divide society, spread hatred, and weaken democratic institutions, the Department of Government Information said steps should be taken to provide access to accurate information to citizens and civil society by introducing a new law to protect society from the harms caused by false propaganda on the internet. Speaking at a press briefing to announce cabinet decisions, Rambukwella stated that around 17% of social media accounts in Sri Lanka are fake, and that this has become an issue to the entire world. He added that countries such as Indonesia, India, Malaysia, and Singapore have brought about legal reforms in order to address this issue, adding that the Sri Lankan Government too is currently in the process of devising a plan to address the same. “This is a threat even to senior journalists,” he said, noting that even though senior journalists put a lot of effort to ensure the accuracy of their news, due to the spread of fake news, those journalists may also face disadvantageous situations. He said the Government considers this move to be a progressive step, of which one of the main objectives is to protect and give value to veteran journalists. In December last year, Minister Rambukwella had reportedly claimed that a plan was being devised to register local users of social media platforms with the aim of stifling the spread of fake and misleading information. However, subsequently, the Minister had stated that no such step would be taken.   Misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation Even though fake news is the general term used to refer to news or information that is either untrue or misleading, there are several internationally recognised classifications to identify that sort of information, and there are distinctive differences between them. According to internationally recognised standards, these types of information can be categorised as misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation. “Misinformation” refers to the unintentional mistakes such as inaccurate photo captions, dates, statistics, translations, or when satire is taken seriously, while “disinformation” refers to fabricated or deliberately manipulated audio and/or visual content, and also intentionally created conspiracy theories or rumours. “Malinformation”, on the other hand, refers to the deliberate publication of private information for personal or corporate interests rather than public interests, such as revenge porn, as well as the deliberate changing of context, date, or time of the genuine content. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the rise of the audience or people’s increased engagement in news sharing on social media is one of the reasons that has increased the rapid spread of disinformation. A publication by UNESCO, titled “Journalism, Fake News, and Disinformation”, explained thus: “The digital era removed barriers to publication and signalled ‘the shift of the tools of production to the people formerly known as the audience’ who became co-producers of content, including news – a function and practice described as ‘produsage’. They initially built audiences via electronic mail and chat rooms before social media platforms dramatically amplified their reach.” The arrival of social media is another reason, and as individuals formed networks built around trust, the peer-to-peer distribution of content (particularly on Facebook) began to challenge the traditional methods of content dissemination, according to UNESCO. It added that users curated their own content streams – including content from news services, journalists, and other reliable information providers – without mediation, and as a result of distribution via trust networks (users and peers), inaccurate, false, malicious, and propagandistic content masquerading as news found increased traction. While acknowledging the number of advantages of using social media platforms to share news and/or information, the UNESCO said that there are also downsides, which include the increased likelihood of disinformation and misinformation going viral with distribution amplified by trust networks and emotional reactions, the ability of governments and other agencies to sidestep news media interrogation and verification by going direct to audiences to avoid scrutiny, sensational information being more likely to be shared, the inability to easily pull back or correct disinformation and misinformation once it has gone viral, the demand to publish instantly on social platforms being likely to lead to the inadvertent sharing of disinformation and misinformation or material from spurious sources, the low level of media and information literacy and verification skills within the broader society, the risk of states undermining the freedom of expression through unjustified censorship and shutdowns (in response to the issues mentioned above), the development of filter bubbles which theoretically confirm biases and reduce exposure to quality and verified information, the risk of poor-quality journalism practice further downgrading audience respect for the profession and giving legitimacy to attacks on news media by those who seek to silence critics, and the risk of audience confusion about what constitutes news as distinct from disinformation masquerading as news.   Rise in internet/social media use The use of the internet is always on the rise, and according to local and international statistics, social media is becoming the most popular and fastest method of sharing news and information as well as communication. According to the globally recognised statistics analyser of market and consumer data, Statista, as of 2020, over 3.6 billion people have used social media platforms, and it projected that it will increase to 4.41 billion by 2025. Among the most popular social media platforms are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, and Facebook was the first social media platform to surpass one billion accounts, currently having 2.5 billion monthly active users. According to Statista, by 2019, approximately 34.11% of Sri Lankans had access to the internet. This is a rise of nearly three times the statistics recorded in 2010, which is 12% of Sri Lanka’s population. However, the Sri Lanka “Digital Outlook 2021 – Market Insight Report”, published by the Asia Pacific Institute of Digital Marketing (APIDM), said that Sri Lanka has a total of 10.1 million internet users, which constitutes 47% of the country’s total population. Among them are 6.4 million active social media users, while 98% of them were social media users who accessed such via mobile phones. According to the APIDM report, 87% of the people received news via social media platforms and 91% of them were in the 25-34-year age category. The age categories of 19-24 years and 35-50 years constituted 86% and 84% of persons, respectively. Other sources of news updates, namely television, radio, newspaper, news apps, messaging apps, and offline communication, were relatively less popular, while television and news apps were in the second and third places, respectively, after social media platforms. In the Western, North Western, North Central, Southern, Central, and Sabaragamuwa Provinces and the rest of the country, the most popular source of news updates was also social media platforms. Overall, the three most popular social media platforms in the country were Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, respectively. It was also the case when it comes to most popular special media platforms among different age categories ranging from 13 to 65 (and above) years. The popularity of Facebook was recorded as 100% in the 65 (and above) years age category, while its popularity among those in the age category of 13-18 years was as high as 99%. In fact, in all age categories, Facebook’s popularity was above 90%. With regard to re-sharing content, the report said that 17% of the social media users in Sri Lanka re-share the content shared by their (social media) friends more than once a week. The largest share, i.e. 21%, comprised people who re-share such content at least once a month.   Tackling fake/misleading news in the world A large number of countries have taken steps to curb the circulation of fake and/or misleading news/information on social media platforms. In March this year, it was reported that Facebook had taken down 1.3 billion fake accounts between October and December last year, and that it had over 35,000 persons working to tackle misinformation (on Facebook). Also, Facebook had removed more than 12 million pieces of content about Covid-19 and vaccines which health experts identified as misinformation. India, which is a country that has a legal system that bears a huge similarity to Sri Lankan laws, is also facing difficulties due to fake and/or misleading news circulated on social media platforms. In the past few months, especially early this year, Indian media reported that the country’s Covid-19 management efforts were being affected due to the said fake and misleading news. However, according to some researchers, more than widely used social media platforms, it was mobile communication apps such as WhatsApp that spread more fake news, which makes it relatively more difficult to monitor. According to several researchers on India’s situation, most of the said fake and misleading news items were about unconventional cures for Covid-19, Covid-19-related activities such as travel restrictions, and nationalism in politics. Early last month, Indian media outlets reported that Facebook had planned to initiate a new campaign in India to educate and inform Indian nationals about how to detect misinformation related to Covid-19, and to encourage users to check the information they receive against an authentic source. A number of countries have introduced and/or amended laws to deal with fake and/or misleading news, especially those circulated on the internet. Some of these were introduced due to the increasing fake and misleading news about the Covid-19 pandemic. China has strict laws against the spread of misinformation, and the Philippines and Vietnam too have passed similar laws last year. If found guilty under fake news laws imposed in Singapore, the culprit may face a fine of up to $ 1 million and a 10-year jail term. Under Russia’s laws, a fine of up to Roubles 400,000 can be imposed for spreading false information online. Also, when it comes to Europe, France’s laws stipulate that anyone found guilty of violating that country’s fake news laws may be fined and jailed. According to Germany’s laws about spreading hate speech and fake news on social media, social media networks would be given a 24-hour period to remove such content and the failure to do so may attract a fine of up to € 50 million. According to the Austria-based International Press Institute, during the Covid-19 pandemic alone, 16 countries have passed new laws against fake and misleading information. Among these countries are Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, Hungary, Jordan, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Thailand, the UAE, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. At the end of the day, a lot of matters pertaining to what are identified as the correct and appropriate use of media is subjective and has a large number of aspects that cannot be clearly defined or identified within the existing legal and social frameworks. Rather than one-sided legal reforms or law enforcement, a national-level discourse could help any country to reach a consensus as to what contents could be allowed and what cannot be allowed, or what draws the line between the correct and incorrect use of social media in the country.